LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Colin Ely and Matt Fullowan each nabbed second-place finishes to lead a group of six Franklin & Marshall placewinners at the sixth annual Mat Town Open hosted by Lock Haven on Saturday. Other F&M wrestlers with top-six placings included Richard Durso, Matt Latessa, Paul Alessandrini and Isaiah Cromwell.
Ely reeled off a pair of impressive victories at 197 pounds before falling in the championship bout. The senior pinned Penn College's Ocker Jasper in 2:55 and cruised past Cornell's Lukasz Stala with a 9-1 decision to reach the finals, but was edged out by Richard Perry of Bloomsburg, 7-5, to take silver.
At 174 pounds, Fullowan also opened with a victory via fall in just 2:15, before defeating Cornell's Michael Alexander by a 5-2 decision. Fullowan then fell just short of the title as he was nipped by Virginia's Stephen Doty, 8-6.
Durso secured third place with a quartet of wins following a tough second round loss to Ronnie Garbinsky of Pittsburgh. The freshman opened with a 12-0 triumph over Lock Haven's Eric Kemble, but dropped a tight 5-4 decision to Garbinsky in the next match. After notching three straight wins, Durso found himself in a rematch with Garbinsky in the third-place bout, and avenged his earlier loss with a 4-0 victory to cap off a 5-1 day.
Both Latessa and Alessandrini made their way into the top six at 184 pounds. Michael Mirra of Bloomsburg outlasted Latessa, 6-2, in the third-place match, while the freshman Alessandrini recorded his first career win with a pinning (1:05) of Penn College's Cameron Price to take fifth.
In additon to Ely, Cromwell also earned a placewinning spot at 197 by recording the first two pins of his career. The freshman shook off an opening round loss with two straight victories, including a 1:28 pinning of Penn College's Jasper. He then fell to Hofstra's Mike Murphy, 5-4, but responded with another victory via fall - this time in 2:03 - over Chris White of Lock Haven.
Freshman Chris Bache also tallied his first career wins with a 2-2 record at 149 pounds. Bache began the day with a 4:32 fall victory and later closed out his second win with a 5-0 decision.
The Diplomats return to action on Friday, Dec. 2 at Virginia Military Institute at 7:30 pm.
